It's no secret that I LOVE rainbow fabrics!! So last year when I spotted this new range of fabrics coming out I knew I needed it in my life!! So I set to designing a quilt that featured it. This was turned into a commission for a magazine, that you'll see later in the year. But I had a little left over and when I saw that Shayla Wolf, the designer, was going to launch the fabric with a Blog Tour I thought I'd offer to help!

If you aren't familiar with Shayla's work then do head on over to her website Sassafras Lane Designs and check it out!

The fabric is a gorgeous spectrum of rainbow colours with white line designs on. Here is what Shayla says about them:

Foundation features hand-drawn designs in vibrant colors. These bright prints will mix beautifully into a variety of projects and boldly enhance any fabric stash. The spectrum of color is balanced by several neutrals and low volume options.

So on to what I made for the Blog Tour!! It's a bit of a story lol! I had heaps of ideas but narrowing it down was hard. Plus I wanted to showcase the fabric! So some of the ideas got struck off.

Then one day I was reading an Instagram post of someone I met on a quilting retreat. Ruth talked about how when she set up her Instagram page to show case her creations, it was to try to create every day. Over time that has slipped away due to a busy life (we all get that, right?) and now she wants to get back to it. Her post resonated with me so much as it also talked about how much better she felt when crafting. When I used to teach, I lost count of the number of people who told me how learning to sew had helped with their emotional and mental well being! Sewing does indeed, mend the soul.

So! Inspired by that post I decided I needed ANOTHER rainbow mini quilt for my wall in my sewing room (you can never have too many!) to remind me to Create Every Day! And so the Create Every Day Mini Quilt was born!

It's a mix of foundation paper piecing, traditional piecing and raw edge applique! The spool is foundation paper pieced. When I designed it I was thinking about the Guterman thread that I use. They are on a skinny spool and the thread criss crosses as it is wound onto the spool. So I wanted to create something like that.

I wanted the words to also feature all the fabrics I had. I did toy with doing each letter a different colour. But given that I had chosen to use a cursive font I decided this wouldn't work. Plus I wanted to mimic the graduation of colour on the spool. So I sewed strips together before making the applique and then used them in the reverse colour order.

I decided to quilt it with spools and loops in between. I'll put a video tutorial onto You Tube if you are interested.

I love it so much it just makes you happy looking at it lol! So I thought I'd make it into a pattern so you can make one for your sewing space too!! It can also be made into a cushion if you make the borders a bit smaller. You can get the pattern HERE. In the pattern you get the foundation paper piecing pattern, construction instructions for the mini quilt and full instructions on how to choose a font you like and make that into an applique template.

I've released a Foundation Paper Pieced pattern recently and have a few more scheduled for release soon. So given that lots of people are new to this technique I thought it would be fun and useful to release a free pattern with a video tutorial to get you familiar with the process.

Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) is a great patchwork technique that produces accurate piecing for even the smallest pieces. For FPP you have a template/s that you stitch the fabric onto and then rip out later when fully pieced into a block. There are various ways of doing FPP and I will be showing you the way I do it. You’ll need to use these supporting sheets and pattern in tandem with watching the You Tube video tutorial.

I would LOVE to see what you make using this fun FREE pattern so if you are on social media be sure to use the hashtag #thecraftynomadsimpletree and please tag me: on IG I’m @thecraftynomadfleet and on Facebook I’m @thecraftynomad.

If you liked this pattern then do check out all my other patterns HERE. Hope you've learned something new!

In the video I talk about some of the products I use for FPP here are some useful links for you:

It seems I have become a very intermittent blogger! I've been so busy making, writing patterns and social media that my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. Sooooo what that means is that we have loads to catch up on!!

Let's start with my Apples and Pears Quilt Pattern. I wrote this for my November pattern release. It's got four options, 2 large and 2 small, each with one for beginners and then a more advanced option!

I made the large advanced version. The only thing that makes it more advanced than beginners is that it has flying geese in it.

The design is based on a set of stairs. When I was a little girl, at bed time my mum always used to say ‘up the apples and pears’, which is cockney slang for stairs. We aren’t even from London, go figure lol! Anyhow that's how it got it's name.

The quilt is strip pieced, apart from the geese so it comes together quite quickly.

Two more versions below show both smaller options. The grey and blue one is the simple version with no flying geese, made by Amanda. And the one on the right is with the flying geese and is made be Martine.

Remember my Gifts Galore Christmas Table runner? Well I also made one up for birthdays too. But this one I used the alternative placement so it doesn't matter which side of the table you are sitting at!!

For this one I used a 'Gift' free motion quilting design. I've posted a video tutorial of this over on my Facebook page.

So back in 2011 I made a Rainbow Cushion. I was fairly new to my sewing and quilting life back then. But I loved that cushion!!! Fast forward 6 years and it was starting to look a bit dogeared and tatty so I decided to make another version of it, using all the skills I had learnt over the last 6 years!

Do you remember last month I posted about a free tutorial I had written for The Sewing Directory website? You can find that by clicking here.

Well, I decided to use the same pattern to make a cushion. I just added extra borders to make it up to 18 inches square.

I quilted it with a holly design I made up. You'll be able to see a video tutorial of that over on my Facebook page if you are interested.

I chose to add piping to the cushion. I love a piped edge on cushions it gives them a really professional finish.

If you don't know how to do piping and want to give it a go, you might want to check out my Trimmed Cushion Tutorial which shows four different way to trim the edge of cushions: piping; lace; giant ric rac; and bobble or pom pom trim! Lots of tips and tricks to get good results.

It's that time of year again! If you're reading this post you are either looking for ideas to tell your loved ones to get you! Or you're desperately trying to figure out what to buy for the 'Quilter' in your life! Here are 10 gift ideas for quilters. I've also sneaked in five more stocking stuffer ideas too! So that's really 15 fab ideas for you!

These are all things I either own, or really really want!!! No one has paid me to tell you about them, I just think they are fab ideas, Some links are affiliate links though (see note on affiliate links in top right of page) . Just click the pictures to find the item! Obviously your local quilt shop may stock these items too so be sure to check those too if you want to support local independents. I'm pretty sure that Sew Busy in Fleet stocks the rotary cutter, blades, thread cutter necklace and possibly the rotating cutting mat. Purple Stitches in Basingstoke stocks the seam roller too.

1. Olfa Rotary Cutter - there is no denying that Olfa are one of the best brands around for quilting tools. I absolutely love my Quick Change Olfa Rotary Cutter. It's really comfortable to use and has the added safety feature of being able to cover the top part of the blade when being used.

2. Wonder Clips: Took me ages to buy some of these and I really wished I had done it sooner! First off they are really pretty as they are so colourful! So they look really cheerful! And second they are really easy and quick to use!

Use them instead of pins when binding. They come in a really cute tin to store them in which is handy.

Membership to the VIP club means the gift recipient will get that nudge every month to get quilting. They will receive a new pattern through the mail every month, discount on all other patterns and exclusive membership of a Facebook group for support and extra video tutorials.

To buy it as a gift for someone click HERE. Choice of 3,6 or 12 month subscription plans.

4. One of my recent purchases also made it onto the list!

This really handy Seam Roller is perfect for when you are foundation paper piecing. It saves hopping out to the iron every five seconds!

5. No self respecting quilter wouldn't have a pin cushion! I make these super handy pin cushions that attach to your sewing machine. They are for sale at Sew Busy and come in all different fun sewing themed fabrics. If you can't get to Sew Busy just drop me an email and I can post you one out (UK only due to the filling). I'll be adding more in the next week or two.

This reduces the amount of work considerably when cutting half square triangles, or any small squaring up.

7. I spotted this cutting board recently and it looks brilliant. Especially for those of you who go to quilt clubs or retreats.

This mat folds up. Half of it is a cutting board and the other half is an ironing board!

8. If you are wanting to improve your free motion quilting then this book has got to be on your list!

Lori Kennedy is an amazing quilter. Her designs are so creative and she inspires you to have the confidence to have a go.

Her website, The Inbox Jaunt, is full of great video tutorials as well so be sure to check that out too.

9. This next one is so on my Christmas Wish List! The 2018 Quilters Planner!

I hope my family are reading this ;-) Please someone buy this for me lol! It's so pretty! They have used the designs of one of my favourite fabric designers in it! It looks amazing and so much better than my plain squared notebook!!

10. We all know that quilters LOVE fabric. They adore it! They swoon over it! They have been known to stroke it!! But what to buy when the selection is so big and everyone likes different things? Well the easy thing to do is to get a Gift certificate for your local fabric shop so they can choose their own. Sew Busy certainly offers gift certificates and I'm sure your local shop will too!

Now for the Stocking Stuffers!

11. Everyone needs a USB stick, and much nicer to have a fun sewing themed one!

12. Thread cutter necklace! So you can sew wherever you are without scissors. I believe you can even take these on a plane. Perfect for hand sewing on the go.

13. And whilst we are on the subject of thread cutters I really LOVE these ones recently released by Quilt Story. Cute colours and you can stick them anywhere.

14. New blades for the rotary cutter will always be well received. I know I certainly go through a lot!

15. And finally, sadly, we quilters need a good seam ripper and why not have a really pretty one! You can even get them as necklaces so you will never lose it! [Note to husband: I really love this one!! Hint Hint!]

Click the picture to find heaps of similar items on Etsy.

Hope this helped with your gift buying for the lovely quilter in your life.

It's about this time of year that everyone starts getting busy with their Christmas Sewing. When I was teaching I used to run a class showing people how to make advent calendars using those gorgeous printed panels!

They do have very brief instructions printed on the edge but if you need more detailed instructions then look no further!

You can find a link below to download my full tutorial for the standard type of advent panels. In the next post I'll show you how to deal with the sweet little advent stocking panels.

So excited to let you all know that one of my tutorials is being featured on The Sewing Directory. If you aren't familiar with The Sewing Directory, it's a fabulous resource! Full of free tutorials and information about Sewing shops and classes.

I have written a tutorial for them that is a really fun Christmas themed one! It's a Patchwork Pot holder with a Christmas Tree design. Click on the picture for the full tutorial.

So why not protect your table from heat marks in style! If you have a go at making one I'd love to see a picture of it!

Just wanted to share with you some charity sewing I'm involved with at the moment. I'm involved in supporting two quilting charities at the moment: Project Linus; and Siblings Together.

For Project Linus I make a quilt as and when I have time normally. At the moment the one I'm working on at the moment is a Star pattern which is foundation paper pieced. The pattern is by Kristy Lea of QuietPlay. The pattern was in Make Modern digital magazine Issue 15. I've only done two blocks so far but keeping plodding along with it.

For Siblings Together it's a bit more organised as I'm part of a sewing bee. So each month I am asked to sew up two blocks as per instructions and send them off to the monthly Mama who will stitch it all up. This is what I've done so far, with another one in the works.

I love being part of the bee for the obvious reason, that the quilt goes to such a worthy cause. But also for a bit of a selfish reason, it gets me sewing blocks I wouldn't otherwise make. So it pushes me outside my comfort zone.

Anyone else end up feeling super relieved after they have completed a project that has been hanging about for way too long?

I don't love hand sewing, I just don't! It always seems like such a chore to get it done! I think it's because I'm so slow at it. I do quite enjoy hand finishing the binding on a quilt but I think that is only because I know it will complete the project so well and I'm not a fan of seeing stitching on binding.

Anyhoo this little birdy hoop has been on the go for about 3 years! Finally finished the hand stitching of the quote and the beak recently and got it on the wall! It has sat in this state for a long long time!

All finished and on the wall!!

Totally love this quote!

'Use what talent you possess - the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the birds that sang the best' Henry Van Dyke

My little mission when I taught classes was the get people to have a go at sewing and not to be afraid of it. People are often worried that what they create will look rubbish, but if we never try, then we never know. And if we never try again then we never improve. So keep trying and you will love what you create!

The patchwork is foundation paper pieced. All stitching, apart from the words, beak and eye, are done on the machine. Bird and leaves are appliqued on.

A few weeks ago I had a really lovely day out with my sister. We visited the Country Brocante at Daylesford Farm. This is right up my sister's street she loves all this vintage stuff. As for me I certainly like bits of it. I ALWAYS head for the vintage haberdashery bits and bobs! Just loved The Old Haberdashery stall.

I found quite a few lovely things to photograph for you!

No visit to my sister's would be complete without a visit to Diane at Harry & Floss though! Had to restock on some of my favourite low volume prints, always got to have some new aqua in my stash! And really could not resist that cute little ruler!!!

I wanted to get some hints and tips on to here about applique. Learning how to machine applique was one of my most popular classes when I was teaching.

The term applique simply describes the bonding of one fabric to another to form some sort of picture.

For it to be effective you will need to use some sort of fusible web. Bondaweb is a common brand in the UK, but there are many brands out there. Some are cut in A4 or Letter size sheet so you can run them through your printer. Some are repositionable for a time.

If you are using Bondaweb you can see and feel the glue on one side. You will want to draw or trace your shape onto the non-glue side. Take care to trace the reverse of the image you actually want on your finished project, this is really important if you are tracing letters! Do NOT cut on the lines at this stage, cut about a quarter inch / half a centimetre around the outside of your line. You'll have to trace all the bits separately, notice the birds wing is separate to the body.

Then iron them in place on the wrong side of the fabric you want to use for the shapes. Follow the instructions for the brand you are using. Normally though they say to make sure the steam function is switched off on the iron and press in place for about 5 seconds. No more or you could burn the fabric.

Now carefully cut on the lines and cut your pieces out. Use a pin to score the paper part of the bondaweb, this makes it easier to take off without damaging the edges. You'll notice that the glue is left behind on the wrong side of the fabric when you peel the paper off. It doesn't feel sticky, but you can see it. If you find that the glue starts to peel off with the paper, then you need to lay the paper back down and re-apply the iron. You might want to protect your ironing board and/or iron from the glue!

Once the paper is off you need to position your pieces onto the background fabric and iron it in place. Again follow the instructions for your brand. Normally just press with iron for ten seconds.

Now it's time to stitch them in place. Stitching them down gives a more secure finish, especially for items that are going to be washed. But it also adds the character and detail.

I used to teach three main machine stitches, but really you could use any stitch you like.

Straight Stitch

By far the easiest is using a straight stitch. You can use this in two ways: neat or messy.

For the straight neat stitch you will want to aim to consistently follow the outline of the shape between ⅛ and1⁄16inch from the edge on the applique.

If your machine has a locking stitch button then use this. If not then just pull the threads manually through to the back and tie in a knot. Do NOT do reverse stitching as it looks unsightly.

Don't be tempted to start at a corner! Most people do, but actually you'll get a much better finish if you start on a straight-ish edge instead of at a corner, as it is far easier to match up along a straight edge than at a corner.

When you reach a corner, stop a few stitches before the corner, manually crank the stitches through with the hand wheel and stop at the point you want to pivot around with the needle in the fabric, lift the presser foot and turn the fabric. Put the presser foot back down and continue stitching.

Reduce the stitch length if stitching curves or small pieces.

If you want to try the messy stitch to get the 'sketch' look, then you start off doing the neat straight stitch as above but you don't need to be so precise with it. When you reach the place where you started, you stitch a second line kind aiming for the first one but just missing, it's like you are stitching a wavy line over the first one. A contrasting thread colour works well for the sketch look.

Blanket Stitch

Not all machines have this stitch, but if you do have it it gives a finish akin to hand sewing

You need to use a Satin Stitch foot for this stitch. The satin stitch foot has a groove on the underneath of it that allows a chunkier stitch to glide right through. Plus they are normally perspex so you can see your stitches more clearly.

They vary between machines so practice to see how the stitch is formed. This is particularly important to know for navigating corners and curves. It's important to know where your needle will go next so that you don't stitch backwards into the background fabric at a corner.

You can usually change the stitch length and width on this stitch

You are aiming for the right hand part of the stitch (i.e. the line) to fall onto the background fabric and the left hand part of the stitch to fall on the appliquéd shape.

This stitch has locking stitches at the beginning and the end. The beginning is automatic, at the end you have to press a button.

Satin Stitch (very close zig zag)

This is by far the most professional looking stitch when done well! It's also the hardest to get a good finish on a domestic machine

For this stitch you use a zig zag stitch and reduce the length so it is very close together. Length equal to 0.2-0.4.

You must use a Satin Stitch foot with this stitch, if you don't then the bulk of the thread will cause the foot to get stuck, resulting in a big mess of thread.

Ideally you would use the same colour thread as the fabric behind so that any gaps in thread aren't unsightly.

On an electronic machine this stitch has locking stitches at the beginning and the end. The beginning is automatic, at the end you have to press a button. Just pull the thread through to the back on a mechanical machine and manually tie a knot.

If opting for this stitch it can be advisable to stabilise the fabric to avoid getting puckers. You can use tearaway stabiliser on the back or if you haven't got any of that you could use interfacing.

I've been meaning to add a binding tutorial to the website for a while now. So today's post is for single fold binding. I will be adding a post on double fold binding soon too!

Single Fold binding is how I was first taught to bind a quilt by my friend Lorraine, on more recent quilts I have used double fold binding. But for all my classes on patchwork and quilting I taught single fold binding.

First up measure all the edges of your project, add these numbers up and 10 inches. This is the length of binding you need to make. Cut strips that are 1 and 7/8 inches wide - I know it's a very specific figure! Piece these strips together. I like to do this on the bias to spread the bulk of the seam. Lay the strips crossed over right sides together as shown. So lay one strip right side up and lay the next one right side down crossways at the corner. Using an acrylic ruler with a 45º angle marked on it draw a line as shown. Stitch directly on the line. Trim to quarter inch seam allowance. Press seams open. Repeat until you have the necessary number of strips sewn together. Using a bias tape maker (these gadgets are fab for preventing burnt fingers!) feed the strip of fabric in wrong side facing up. Use a pin to help it through or if necessary cut the end into a point. Gently pull it through and iron the folds into place, the raw edges should meet in the middle. Now fold together so raw edges are inside and folded edges meet perfectly and iron in place. Wrap around a piece of cardboard to help keep the folds in place and keep it clean and off the floor.

Open out all those folds. Starting in the middle of an edge away from a corner, leave about 6 inches free, pin the binding right sides against the right side of the front, as shown, all around the table runner. When you reach a corner, fold the binding as shown below and continue all the way around.

When you reach the place you started lay the left hand tail on top of the right hand tail. Using your acrylic ruler mark a 45 degree line. Fold back the top layer carefully and mark a corresponding line on the binding underneath. Trim to a quarter inch past this line on both ends. Pin together lay flat to check you've pinned it correctly. Sew on the line. Trim away the dog ears. Lay flat, finger press the seam open and pin in place. Using a walking foot stitch in place, along the first fold or just ever so slightly to the right of it. When you reach a corner, stop when you can feel the extra layers of fabric beneath, you don't want to sew over those. It should be about half an inch from the end. Secure your stitches. Fold the flap of fabric out of the way. Insert the needle a half inch from the edge and continue.

Re-form the folds and flip the binding to the back. Mitre the corners neatly. Pin in place and hand stitch all the way around with an invisible ladder stitch.

I'll post a tutorial soon for the double fold binding. The main benefit to single fold is that it uses less fabric.

My latest make is this fun table runner. I designed it months ago and never actually got around to making it until recently. I was teaching a lady patchwork and quilting and we were discussing what she wanted to make. 'Something Christmassy...' Aha I thought I have just the thing! Not too big or complicated for a first time patchworker. So I set to work!

It's actually a relatively quick make.

The pattern will be available from the 15th October as a PDF or as a Paper Pattern. But if you're in my VIP Club by 30th September then you'll get a copy sooner than that!

By Lori Kennedy

I quilted it with a snowflake design that I found in Lori Kenning's book: Free Motion Quilting 1-2-3.

I love Lori's style she makes it all look so easy lol! The book is brilliant. Easy to follow and gets you to step outside your comfort zone and give it a go.

[Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links - this means that if you buy this book I get a tiny percentage for advertising it - you don't pay any extra, so it's win-win all around! I only ever list products I think are fab!]

So earlier in the summer I made this little quilt to go in the window of a shop where I used to teach classes. The theme for the window was Under the Sea. It was for the town carnival and all the shops are asked to decorate their windows along the same theme.

I had an idea for a modern design with on point quilt construction. I played with the fish block construction quite a bit, ended up with quite a few rejects before I settled on this one!

I decided to quilt free motion wavy lines to represent waves. And wanted to add bubbles coming up from their mouths.

The only problem was that as usual I was quilting late at night (please tell me I'm not the only one that does this!) and to a deadline and given the nature of the block pattern I quilted the bubbles upside down! I could have left it as it was, no one else would have known the quilt was upside down as the fish look no different one way to the other. But I would know and I had wanted the Mamma fish to be uppermost....so lots of unpicking followed, lots of burying threads. But now the bubbles are in the right place!

It's a bit of fun where you can share a quilt or two that you have made recently. And on the plus side there are heaps of cool prizes too!!

So I decided to share one of my recent makes! The Tumbling Spools Quilt. I made this quilt for the Quilt Now Magazine. It was always intended to go on my wall in my craft room!

It's no secret that I love the rainbow palette, and therefore no surprise that I LOVE Alison Glass's fabrics, particularly the Sun Print ranges as they are sooooo vibrant!

I wanted to challenge myself with the quilting on this one. So I did a spools design that was modified from one I did previously on a cat quilt. Also until now I hadn't been a big fan of pebbling, but found it was perfect for filling in the words! I used Rayon thread so it would catch the light more and make the words stand out.

The pattern appeared in Issue 39 of Quilt Now. Always so exciting to see my work in a magazine! If you missed the magazine when it was out, you may be able to order back issues from them directly [I just checked and print copies are all sold out, but you can still get digital copies]. Alternatively you can wait until February 2018 when I'll be able to release the pattern ;-)

OK so when I finished up teaching back in early July I had every intention of starting up regularly blogging. And then, well then, I decided to take the summer off! It's been lovely to take a break. I've still dipped my toe into social media. But it was pretty obvious to me that I needed a good long break.

Quite a while ago I got to play with Sun Print 2017 fabric by Alison Glass. I love a rainbow palette so I love all of Alison's fabric ranges!

I made this fun Rainbow Tumbling Spools Quilt. It appeared in issue 39 of Quilt Now. It features a column of thread spools that appear to be tumbling.

The words are then free motion quilted with a pebbles design.

The background is quilted with a spool design.

Always so exciting to see my work in a magazine! If you missed the magazine when it was out, you may be able to order back issues from them directly [I just checked and print copies are all sold out, but you can still get digital copies]. Alternatively you can wait until February 2018 when I'll be able to release the pattern :-)

Welcome to The Crafty Nomad Blog. I'm Jo, the owner of The Crafty Nomad. This is where you can keep up to date with happenings at The Crafty Nomad. Some blog posts contain affiliate links. This just means that if you click them and buy the item I receive a tiny bit of commission helping me to fund my blog!